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Biscuit-free environment provides food for thought
von Andrew Jack, Financial Times (Deutchland), 7th Sept 07

PA Consulting spends £30,000 a year on fruit deliveries, while estimating that its biscuit bill would have been £23,000 and productivity has risen.

Of all the changes Jon Moynihan introduced since becoming chief executive of PA Consulting in 1992, none was ever so contested as a decision he took within his first fortnight on the job: a ban on biscuits. A decade and a half later, new employees and guests to the consultancy's London headquarters are still surprised to see that the meeting rooms are stocked with tea, coffee and water - but accompanied only by fresh fruit to nibble.

His action did not just reflect a desire - that has since been much copied elsewhere - to encourage healthy eating in the workplace. More important, it was an effort to create a competitive edge in his business through food. "I saw that as soon as people started to eat the chocky biscuits, they waved their arms and talked irrationally," Mr Moynihan recalls. "Then they got depressed, stared glumly out of the window and said nothing."

His observation reminded him of a book that he had read in the late 1980s, Managing Your Mind and Mood Through Food, written by Judith Wurtman, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The idea was that if you eat carbohydrates, your brain shuts down. And the impact of refined sugar is to send people into a tizzy,'' says Mr Moynihan. "For 20 minutes, they are bright and then they fall into a slump. Fructose [fruit sugar] is absorbed slowly, so it doesn't give you a big sugar rush."

At the time, he recalls: "It was one of my more unpopular decisions. We had lots of complaints and an attempted rebellion, because an awful lot of people need their daily fix. Nowadays, nobody disputes it."

Today, PA Consulting spends £30,000 a year on fruit deliveries, while estimating that its biscuit bill would have been £23,000 and productivity has risen. "I'm convinced that the quality of thinking at meetings has improved," he says. "The science is with me, and the general zeitgeist."

In fact, the science is open to debate, but the trend towards corporate healthy eating has certainly caught on, if only as a way to keep employees in the office rather than wandering elsewhere for food.

John Lawless, marketing innovations director of 4degreesC, one of PA Consulting's fruit suppliers, says: "We've seen huge growth in demand from companies for fresh healthy produce, and fruits in particular. We are increasingly working with companies to devise packages for staff restaurants because there are plenty of places you can go to eat outside instead."

He says the chief executive may have particular tastes, but the choice of fruits otherwise tends to be quite conventional, with the banana most popular, followed by apples and pears. "You want 'grab and go' fruit that is pretty on the plate, easy to eat, and not too difficult to peel. A really juicy citrus fruit that ends up all over your tie is not good."

If the practicalities make sense, he makes a further argument about workplace productivity. "Clients are very conscious of what fruits do for them: bananas to sustain them in the afternoon and provide energy; and pears to refresh or revive them."

Ironically, Ms Wurtman's original Mood and Food book argues that fruit does not provide the productivity boost that Mr Moynihan had sought. "Fruit is good for you, no doubt about it. But don't reach for an apple or an orange when you want to feel more focused or less stressed. It won't work," she writes.

In this and a recently published update, The Good Mood Diet, she instead places central, if seemingly counter-intuitive, emphasis on carbohydrates, such as those found in pretzels and breadsticks, highlighting studies that show they help generate the brain chemical serotonin, which both relaxes and helps suppress hunger.

Ms Wurtman jokes that the best business tactic might be: "Feed your competitor a very high fat meal with lots of alcohol while you have bottled water, fish and a salad. I have seen that happen by very clever corporate heads." But if fruit and such other sensible dietary advice help support a healthier lifestyle in general, Susan Jebb, from the British Medical Research Centre's human nutrition unit in Cambridge, argues that the science on anything more specific is hazy. "Nutrition studies are difficult to do and rarely definitive," she says. "Fruit is better than biscuits or pastries, which are more energy-dense and calorific," she says. "It has a fraction of the sugar of chocolate, a lot of water and fibre which slows down absorption. It reduces the risk of over-eating, and has lots of vitamins and minerals."

The most consistent evidence for long-term health is a diet low in salt and saturated fats; high in omega 3 oils such as oily fish; and with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Remaining hydrated is important for alertness. "Beyond that, the end points on mood, behaviour and performance are less well documented," she says.

She also emphasises the responsibility of employers to create the right work environment. "I'm pretty good, but if I'm in a meeting with plenty of biscuits, I can guarantee I'll eat some. Chief executives have a responsibility to help people make healthy choices, such as putting fruit in the vending machines.'' She adds that employers should do more to encourage cycling and walking to work, and walking rather than using lifts or communicating by e-mail.

Mr Moynihan may have chosen the right menu for the wrong reasons. Arguably, he should be encouraging his staff to walk outside the office to buy their fresh fruit instead.
 
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